Every Student, Every Day Platform
Since joining the SA I’ve seen truly amazing initiatives accomplished that changed students day to day life for the better such as instituting Fall Break, enabling First Year Forgiveness, GW Listens, and moving the Colonial Health Center onto campus. My campaign reflects this potential for the SA to advocate for every student and make improve their everyday life at GW. I want to make sure that the SA truly works for every student, both undergraduate and graduate students, those who live on campus and those who are an online students, first year undergraduates through 6th year PhDs. My platform focuses on 7 tangible initiatives put into two clusters: Affordability and the SA in Action.
Affordability
It is no secret that the cost of tuition at GW is high, it’s the highest amongst our peer institutions, and the cost of living in DC is one of the highest in the country. I believe that there are ways to alleviate the financial burden that many feel at GW and in DC through working with administration and making the student voice heard.
-Ensure a free 18th credit for all students
-Address food secure campus for graduate and undergraduate students
-Collaborate with administration to reduce room rental fees
SA In Action
One of the major responsibilities of the EVP is to oversee the Senate and the inner workings of the Student Association. From my three terms in the Senate I’ve learned the ins and outs of the Student Association better than almost anyone and know that I can make sure that the Student Association effectively advocates for every students and provides opportunities for any student to get involved.
-Create a Diversity and Inclusion Task Force
-Expand sustainability initiatives while advocating for a fossil free endowment
-Continue the Student Engagement Committee
-Continue intentional outreach to graduate students
Affordability
Ensure a Free 18th Credit for All Students
After speaking with many currently in the SA, including President Peak Sen Chua, not only do I believe it is time to make sure that everyone who wants to take 18 credits without an additional fee is able to do so but I believe we are in a moment where that is possible. Every one of our peer universities allows students to take at least 18 credits a semester with the University of Miami, where our new President served as Executive Vice President and Provost, allowing for 20 credits a semester. The key to making this feasible is continuing to work with administration to evaluate the financial cost of this initiative and find ways to phase in the 18th credit. This could start with the creation of a fund to cover the cost of the 18th credit that students could petition to access or through gradually phasing in the free 18th credit starting with the major most in need such as those that require a language class or STEM majors in CCAS and expanding it until the 18th credit is accessible for every student.
Addressing Food Insecurity
Both graduate and undergraduate students face food insecurity at alarming rates and while we need targeted solutions, I believe that these solutions can be interconnected. Because of a fee that GW places on Dining Partners, the university makes a profit every time we swipe our GWorld to purchase food. This causes prices all over Foggy Bottom to be higher than other parts of the city which makes it difficult for students to afford to eat enough day to day.
Currently graduate students are paying the higher price for food around Foggy Bottom but because we rarely use our GWorld GW doesn’t make any money and because we use our debit or credit cards we don’t have access to the more affordable Meal Deals. If graduate students began using GWorld for our purchases then GW would earn more money, graduate students could take advantage of cheaper food options, and everyone would be incentivized to buy from Dining Partners. If graduate students increase the customer base then GW could also begin finding ways to give back a percentage of the swipe fee that they earn without changing their overall budgeting. This would further incentivize students to shop at dining partners because they’d get money back and having more students using GWorld will also give the university leverage to increasing the number and affordability of Meal Deals. This will make the whole system more enticing to those restaurants that may be interested in becoming dining partners. This plan hinges on engaging the graduate student population and working with administration and I have a proven track record within the SA of doing just that.
Reducing Room Rental Fees
The SA finances have gone through major changes but one thing that remains is the cost of reserving space, I believe that we can collaborate with administration to alleviate that cost so that instead of student fees from the Finance Committee going to the pay for room reservations they can go towards student organizations’ programming and events. I want to work with Events and Venues to create a discount pilot program so that organizations or events that meet certain criteria can get a reduced rate to reserve rooms. I have already started these conversations and know that Events and Venues is open to pilot program proposals. The pilot program would enable the SA to show how much the student experience could be improved if funds go to student run events rather than paying to reserve space on our own campus.
SA in Action
Create a Diversity and Inclusion Task Force
I’ve been a part of or created the last two SA Special Committees that focused on finance reform and election reform that have drastically improved the Student Association. I want to do this again on the issue diversity and inclusion through the creation of an SA task force. Almost every year there is a major problem related to diversity and inclusion at GW and this task force would exists year-round so it could not only address these incidents but be proactively working with administration, faculty, and staff on policy to create a more open and accepting campus.
Expand Sustainable Initiatives & Advocate for Fossil Fuel Divestment
Since my first term as a CCAS Senator I supported Fossil Fuel divestment and voted to put the 2015 referendum on the ballot. I spoke with administrators about their concerns and sought to best understand the financial logistics of what divestment would mean on their end. My views over the last three years have not changed and I believe that, especially because of the recent creation of the Sustainable Investment Fund, the SA must continue to advocate for full divestment from companies named in the Carbon Underground 200.
After the success of the Save a Million campaign, I think the SA should continue working to reduce the carbon footprint of the university. Currently WEPA printers use paper that is 30% recycled and I want to increase that to 100% over the next year. I want to work with the department of Academic Technologies to set up a Sustainable Summer pilot program that change select printers on campus to 50% and 100% recycled paper to gauge the overall cost and feasibility with our current printers. Additionally, I believe other parts of the university can be reached out to and worked with to decrease their paper use. Academic and administrative departments use roughly five times as much paper as students which means there is a lot of opportunities for sustainability education. I want to leverage my relationships with faculty and administrations that I have developed over the years and work with the Green organizations on campus to bring the spirit of the Save a Million campaign to the rest of GW.
Continue the Student Engagement Committee
This year, instead of the Freshman Advisory Committee, the Executive Branch worked with the Senate to create the Student Engagement Committee (SEC). The goal was to introduce incoming undergraduates to the Student Association and give them the tools they needed to be successful campus leaders. As someone who was involved in the fall interview process and a current SEC mentor, I’ve seen how valuable and effective this committee has been this year. As EVP I would continue to support the SEC and find ways to expand it to ensure that we are providing as many opportunities to learn about student advocacy as possible. One way the SEC could grow is to include transfer students on the committee so that they can get experience within the SA and advocate for their communities. Transfer students have done amazing work within the Senate, expanding the SEC will allow them to get involved with the SA even sooner.
Continue International Graduate Student Outreach
This year, I have worked closely with my fellow graduate senators and the current EVP to outreach to graduate students and the organizations they are a part of. This work paid off when we were able to fill every vacancy, including for the first time the First Year Non Voting Graduate Senator position, earlier than any previous year. Having senate seats filled means there are more people working on advocacy projects for their colleges and every students on and off campus is represented. As EVP I would work closely with the next Pro Tempore to ensure that we turn this years work into an ongoing standard.